


not leaving now honey not a chance

by ShyAudacity



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Archie-centric, Bisexual Archie Andrews, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Character Death, Comforting Jughead Jones, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Demisexual Jughead Jones, Friends to Lovers, Grief/Mourning, Harry Potter References, Hurt Archie, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Mentioned Gladys Jones, Movie Reference, Reunions, Sad, Set whenever, Supernatural Elements, Temporary Character Death, Tragedy, Witches, Wizards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 14:08:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: Jughead Jones died on a Sunday morning with Archie Andrews by his side. He’d had a feeling that it was coming, but he didn’t say anything; he knew that it wouldn’t have mattered.Archie had insisted that they share the bed, especially after he saw Jughead shiver for the twelfth time that night. Archie woke up the next morning to find a pale in the face, blue-lipped Jughead lying next to him; his arm hung off the side of the bed like some damsel in distress.Archie’s whole world fell apart in that moment.Betty Cooper had run over from next door after she heard noises coming through her open window. She found the both of them still bed; with Archie curled around him, half crying half screaming into Jughead’s collarbone.He kept repeating:come back I’m sorry don’t leave me come back.ORJughead dies, but he doesn't necessarily stay that way.





	not leaving now honey not a chance

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In My Life](https://archiveofourown.org/works/462347) by [ObliqueOptimism](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObliqueOptimism/pseuds/ObliqueOptimism). 



> If you think that I should use the MCD warning on this fic, please let me know and I will change it. This is mostly just me taking my idea for Spark Stiles Stillinski and moving it to Riverdale... sorry. 
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from Kids in America.

Jughead Jones died on a Sunday morning with Archie Andrews by his side. He’d had a feeling that it was coming, but he didn’t say anything; he knew that it wouldn’t have mattered.

The two boys had spent the night together. After staying up late talking and doing… other things, it was nearly four in the morning before they finally went to sleep. Archie had insisted that they share the bed, especially after he saw Jughead shiver for the twelfth time that night. Archie woke up the next morning to find a pale in the face, blue-lipped Jughead lying next to him; his arm hung off the side of the bed like some damsel in distress.

Archie’s whole world fell apart in that moment.   

Betty Cooper had run over from next door after she heard noises coming through her open window. She found the both of them still bed; with Archie curled around him, half crying half screaming into Jughead’s collarbone.

He kept repeating: _come back I’m sorry don’t leave me come back._

The first two days following the incident were all kinds of messy.

First, Fred Andrews called down to the Police Station and told FP Jones that his son had passed. FP didn’t even flinch or cry at the words, only asked who knew about it. FP made him promise not to tell anyone else or call a coroner. Frantically, he told Fred to dig through Jughead’s things and to take his body to the trailer.

“Last I checked he kept the letter in his backpack, fuck, just make sure no one sees you, alright? You can’t tell anyone. Take him to the trailer, he’ll want to be somewhere familiar.”

Fred thought FP was crazy until he found the letter crumpled up in the bottom of Jughead’s bag. He read it three times before calling FP again, asking if this was all some exuberant lie. FP rolled his eyes even though the officer overseeing the phone call was the only one who could see him. He assured Fred that it was, in fact, real; Fred did as he was asked, then passed the letter along to Betty.

Betty cried while reading the letter, both confused and overjoyed. She held onto the letter for two days before she realized that Archie had yet to read it.

Archie hadn’t left his house since Jughead died, much less his room. Betty found him in bed, curled away from the door. He rolled over when she came in, the proceeded to hide his face beneath a pillow.

“Everyone at school has been asking about you… I told them that you and Jug caught Mono.”

When she doesn’t get a response, Betty continues.

“He loved you, you know? I mean, I know that he loved all of us… but it was different with you.”

Archie knows what Betty is doing; she’s trying to get him to talk. She’s trying to get him to tell her about their secret relationship, the one between Jughead and Archie that only existed in the sanctity of Archie’s room or the trailer. For five months, the boys held onto each other when no one else was watching, they liked it that way. Neither of them wanted anyone else in their business, in their _love story;_ they didn’t want to share what they had with the rest of the world. Archie thinks for a moment that maybe Jughead told her, or maybe they weren’t as good at hiding it as they thought they were.

Nonetheless, Archie doesn’t answer her. He keeps himself hidden under his pillow, tears rolling down the slope of his nose and the side of his face, making puddles on the sheet below him. He can hear Betty walk over to his desk, move things around, then make her way out of the room.

“Read the letter, Archie,” Betty tells him. “I promise that this will hurt less if you do.”

Archie waited until he was sure that Betty was gone before sitting up in bed, staring at the letter she’d left on the desk. He ran his fingers over Jughead’s messing handwriting, wishing that Jughead were actually here opposed to some stupid piece of paper. He doesn’t read it, he can’t… not yet. He isn’t, nor does he think he will ever be, ready to hear Jughead’s last words.

Archie lets the letter sit there collecting dust for two weeks before he decides that he’s tired of looking at it and shoves it in the bottom drawer of his dresser. He doesn’t return to school, starts taking online classes at his Dad’s request, but he still doesn’t read the letter. He’s too afraid now, he does, however, imagine what it says.

Archie’s best (and favorite) theory is that it’s a love letter. That it’s a list of all the things that Jughead adored about him. He knows instinctually that that’s not it, but a kid can dream, right?

Six weeks later, six weeks after Jughead well… you know, Archie wakes up at six AM on a Saturday morning to the sound of someone kicking over his guitar. He sits up, rubs his eyes and then gasps.

“Shit, I was trying not to wake you.”

For a moment Archie thinks that he’s still dreaming. He’s had this dream before, a dream where Jughead is alive and everything feels good and right in the world again. Yet, no matter how many times Archie blinks, the figure in front of him never goes away.

Jughead is standing there in the middle of Archie’s room in all his beanie clad glory, wearing the smuggest grin that he’s ever seen.

“Juggie?”

“Hey, Golden Boy,” He says. “Why the surprised look on your face? I couldn’t have been gone that long. Never mind the fact that it took me three days to fully come back to consciousness.”

Archie crumples at the words. His body pitches forward, he covers his ears with his hands in an attempt to block out the sound. Archie swears that he’s gone crazy because this can’t be happening, he must be hallucinating or something. Then, two cold hands cover curl themselves around Archie’s and move them away from Archie’s head; when they frame the sides of his face, Archie finally looks up with tearful eyes.

“Hey. What’s the matter? Didn’t you read the letter?”

“Wh-What?”

“My letter. All you had to do was read my letter- did you not do that?”

Archie shakes his head with an almost neck snapping force.

“I c-couldn’t, it was too h-hard. Didn’t wanna s-say goodbye.” He chokes out.

Jughead pulls Archie forward, resting his cheek against Archie’s forehead while the redhead cries into his neck once again.

“Shit, I didn’t even think-.” He said, rocking the both of them gently. “Arch, it’s okay. Shh, please don’t cry. I’m here, baby, I’m here. I’m not leaving again, okay? Not for a long time.”

Archie nods against his throat, then wraps his arms around Jughead’s neck, pulling him close. He cries for another few minutes, still trying to comprehend the fact that Jughead _really is here._ Then, he pulls away only to dive straight for Jughead’s mouth with his own, making up for lost time. 

If Archie had read the letter like he was supposed to, he would have read this:

_Hey. If you’re reading this then that means I’m dead… for right now at least._

_Let me explain. My mother, just like her mother, is a witch. Since I’m the oldest, this makes also makes me a witch, or in this case a wizard (ironically, I was sleeping under a staircase at school until a few weeks ago, but this isn’t at all like Harry Potter)._

_I can’t use my magic for much, not anything fun anyway, but I’m learning how to control it, how to use it correctly. It’s not at all like how they portray it in the movies; it’s not spells and potions or anything like. It’s just… something that you have to feel. Over time, much like when batteries lose their juice, my body needs to recharge itself. Unfortunately, it does this in the form of me kicking the bucket. It’s only happened once before, luckily it was summer break or my parents would have had some explaining to do._

_Anyways, here are some things that you need to know:_

_1). This is only temporary, I’ll come back eventually, I swear._

_2). If it takes me more than eight weeks to come back, call my mom. She’ll know what to do._

_3). When I die, take my body somewhere that I’ll recognize when I come to. It’s disorienting when you come to life again after being dormant for so long, it’ll be more helpful to me in the long run. Also, make sure that I have clothes and water, those are important._

_4). Don’t tell anyone unless you absolutely have to. It’s best not to freak people out, and the fewer people that know the better._

_5). If this turns out to be permanent then… thanks for being in my life. You wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t important to me._

_P.S. -Archie, I know how much this is hurting you, but I’ll come back soon, I promise. Don’t miss me too much._

_Sincerely,_

_Jughead Jones the Third._

Archie and Jughead spend the rest of that morning tangled together in bed, Archie with his head resting over Jughead’s heart, making sure that it doesn’t stop beating again.

“It kind of feels like a full body ache,” Jughead explains. “Or like you’re coming down with a cold, but then you don’t actually get sick. Instead, you fall asleep for a few days, or in my case weeks, and then when you wake up you have to wait for your body to remember how to be a body again. I swear, Archie, I would have come sooner if I could.” 

“I know,” Archie whispers, kisses his chest through his t-shirt. “I’m just glad that you came back to me in the first place.”

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on my new chapter(s) of You Don't Know Where He's Been but instead, I wrote this. Oops?
> 
> Hey, thanks for reading my fic! If you liked it please leave a kudos or a comment, they give me encouragement to write more, honestly. If you have a prompt that you wanna have written, you can leave it here or come find me at my Riverdale blog via tumblr (archiebones), no porn or mpreg please. Thanks again for reading my story. Have a great day! 
> 
> P.S. If you like Teen Wolf, check out the fic that inspired this!


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